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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29999841">The menagerie loops</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove'>Pearlislove</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ymbryne stories [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - Ransom Riggs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Blood and Injury, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Self-Harm, Ymbryne bonding, spoilers for book 6: The desolation of devil's acres</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 19:39:48</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,639</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29999841</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pearlislove/pseuds/Pearlislove</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Miss Wren and Miss Peregrine discuss Miss Gretchen Tern and her appearance in Tales of the peculiar.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Miss Wren &amp; Miss Tern</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Ymbryne stories [7]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2020474</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Working as a little in-between within canon in Book 6. Placed after they read Tales of the peculiar and discover they must go to  Miss Tern's loop.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>After the children had gone, Miss Peregrine remained sitting on the couch, her eyes nervously observing Miss Wren. She met the older Ymbryne before, but could not claim she knew her well, and there was something about her quick connecting of the tale and the loop that made her uncomfortable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Is there something on your mind dear?" Miss Wren finally asks, slowly petting the chicken in her lap. Addisson is regarding it with jealousy, and she lifts it, allowing Addisson to sleep in her knee while she held the bird in her arms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You knew what V meant when she told the tale. You knew who that tale was referring</span>
  <em>
    <span> to</span>
  </em>
  <span>." Miss Peregrine said seriously, deciding there was no use in lying. There needed to be trust between Ymbrynes, now more than ever, and she wasn’t sure there was any yet.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I didn't." Miss Wren replied calmly, seemingly not sensing where Alma was going or at least pretending not to. "I merely recognized the circumstances." She explained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This statement however, only served to make Miss Peregrine further suspicious. "You must have, dear." She insisted, making clear what she believed was the facts. "Your menagerie loop was also in the ." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren froze at that notion, seemingly shocked to hear her bring it up. Then, she nodded slowly. "Cuthbert the friendly giant. Yes, yes it was...but It does not mean I know every secret the  hide." She rebutted, stroking the hens feathers again. "Are you trying to imply something Alma?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine bit her lip. "You knew what we were looking for before I got them to fetch the extended version of the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Tales</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You knew that Gretchen Tern." She said flatly. "It's the only explanation."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren carefully lifted an eyebrow. "My dear, are you accusing me of willingly withholding information?" She asked, and there was something trembling in her voice, a feeling buried deep inside slowly making its way to the surface.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes" Miss Peregrine  doesn't even have time to consider her answer before she stated it, and the look of hurt and regret on Miss Wren's face informs her of her mistake. "Bird, Balenciaga, I..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No it's okay!" She stood up quickly, Addisson jumping down to the floor beside her, and walked towards a window that overlooks the acres. "It's good to know what you think of me." Her voice is like ice and she was not even looking at her sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga..." Miss Peregrine tried to fix it, tried to reassure her that she never doubted her in the first place, but the older woman wouldn’t hear it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don’t!" The older Ymbryne snapped angrily. "I know things are as dire as dire can be, Alma. The loop is risking collapse, there's been assassination attempts among our own...and Esmeralda is getting worse by the day." Putting a hand up to her mouth, she tried to hide it as a sob suddenly broke out of her throat, starting to cry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As her legs buckled, Addison supporting her as best she could, Miss Peregrine felt her heart clench. Clearly, the pain of all that had happened and was happening weighed heavier on her shoulders than she had known. "Esmeralda  will be fine...we will survive" She insisted, holding her sister tight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren didn't reply, only crying harder with more sobs shaking her thin frame as she leaned against Miss Peregrine. "You're right" She admitted as she cried. "I knew...but I didn't want to believe it...didn't want to think of my poor friend..."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine swallowed now. Attacked by artillery shells. Swarmed by foreign soldiers. That's how she claimed the other Ymbryne had died, her loop destroyed in the crossfire of the Great war. She shuddered. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry Balenciaga. I guess I didn't consider the pain of it..." She said seriously, holding the woman tighter as she continued to cry. “I didn’t know you were so close.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I am sorry. I shouldn't act like this. I shouldn't have held back...but I remember the news like it was yesterday." She said seriously.  "She was my first and last attempt to find another Ymbryne who felt for animals like I did. She was the only one to ever care for my class at the academy, I’m sad to say.." She stated despairingly. “Now all the menageries are gone.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But it can be rebuilt" The despair the old Ymbryne showed was disconcerting. Miss Peregrine couldn't help but fret about how many of her sisters might feel the same, but had not yet broken down enough to show it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Certainly, until that moment, Miss Wren had shown a generally cheery attitude.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>"My animals are dead! Like my sisters lost their children, I lost my animals. They can not be replaced just because they are animals, not humans. They were still peculiar.." Miss Wren warned sharply, anger cutting through her sorrow as she believed her loss was being minimized.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I am still here" Addisson came trotting up to the two of them, rubbing himself against Balenciaga's legs as a small means of comfort for his Ymbryne. “I will go nowhere, I promise.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I know dear" She dug something out of her pocket, feeding it to Addisson, who happily gobbled it up. Then, she sighed deeply. "It's harder to grieve when no one sees the loss." She stated quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine knew this was not just about the animals she had lost to the Wights and the collapse of the menagerie loop. Nor, she suspected, was it about Althea - her only ever charge, a recent death that almost weighed her heavier than the animals.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sound she had made when she saw her body amongst the many dead peculiars stored in the cellar of the panopticon had been indescribable. She had not shown her face outside her quickly assigned quarters for two weeks afterwards, only letting Addisson and Mother Dust in to see her, and both had assured the other Ymbrynes they were better off not trying to get in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But this, this was about something else entirely. It was about Miss Tern. About a Ymbryne, a rare and gifted peculiar, tragically lost and then quickly forgotten. Only remembered in fairy-tales and by the precious few who bothered to notice her when she was there. Somehow, in the bloodshed that had followed as the Wights gathered power and menace, the memory of that one woman had drowned. Somehow, Miss Peregrine suspected she was not the only one.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Loved ones - friends, family, enemy and allies. They all died, their bodies falling in such large numbers no one could quiet keep up with grieving and remembering them all.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Things will be okay” She drew Miss Wren close again, comforting the woman as she finished her tears of grief and longing.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Update: There will now be 3 parts, minimum, and part 3 will start to diverge from canon because I'm reading the book as I write and...goddamn it Ransom.</p><p>But now, Enter Miss Hawksbill.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Balenciaga!” Miss Peregrine couldn’t stop herself from screaming as she saw Miss Wren down the hall. Having caught her attention, ran up to her and backed her into a corner. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Tell me</span>
  </em>
  <span>!" She demanded, coming up face to face with her elder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Tell you what?” Miss Wren asked, terrified as Miss Peregrine also took hold of her arms, squeezing them. Addisson barked at her feet, but could not get past the other Ymbryne. "Alma what's gone into you?!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine ignored her questions, her eyes as focused as those of her bird when she  starred. “Miss Hawkbill. Who is she?” She demanded to know.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why would I know?” Miss Wren rebutted, squirming under the intense gaze. "I don't have all the answers Alma!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga…" Miss Peregrine's voice sank, clearly more threatening than a moment ago. Addisson barked again, but she ignored it. "It is my </span>
  <em>
    <span>children</span>
  </em>
  <span> on the line. Tell me, or else!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alright, Alright!" Miss Wren swallowed, eyes downcast as she gave in. "They're sisters. Gretchen Tern and Maude Hawkbill. Gretchen...was the more talented. She passed her exams two years ahead of her sister. They set up their loops next to one another to keep company, it was what they always intended."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But Miss Tern died." Miss Peregrine said, letting go and taking two steps back now that her sister was talking. She hadn’t meant to be so aggressive, but she decidedly disliked the fact that Miss Wren constantly seemed to hold back with crucial and necessary information. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes, only two weeks after her sister settled herself. And Miss Hawkbill...she lost it. The grief tore her apart." Miss Wren shook her head, new tears pooling in her eyes and reminding Miss Peregrine how sensitive the matter actually was to the older woman. "On the day her loop was made, her sister was still alive. She will not leave, not for anything. She is too afraid of never seeing her sister again." She sighed, clasping her hands together to hide their shaking. "I went to Maude once, on Esmeralda's behest. She thought I could talk her into leaving...resettling somewhere safer. Moving on from Gretchen." Now, she shuddered, her face filled with disgust.</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine paled, worried at the qay her sister acted when faced with the memory. “Balenciaga...what are they walking into? What is she?!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She won't hurt them!" Looking up, Miss Wren quickly tried to assure her, her voice tinged with fear. "She won't hurt them Alma. If they are peculiar she will keep them safe." She assured Miss Peregrine. "But she is heartbroken...irreversibly so. She keeps the taxidermied remains of her sister's animals, still living through peculiarity! It's </span>
  <em>
    <span>awful</span>
  </em>
  <span>." She finishes her explanation, and feels as though she might throw up. It had been the most gruesome thing she had ever seen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her anger completely forgotten, Miss Peregrine drew Miss Wren close again, fearful that the older woman would cause herself yet another breakdown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"There, there, it's fine...it's fine." She insisted, patting her shoulder. Things will be well, Balenciaga. No need to be so sad."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren sighed, allowing herself a moment of weakness while resting in Miss Peregrine's arms, before building herself back up. "Alma, I must apologize." She began, feeling embarrassed for taking so much comfort from the younger woman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine shook her head, lifting her hand to stop her. "It doesn't matter." She said politely, knowing that though she didn’t quite want to admit it she had been in the wrong for the most part. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But it does" Miss Wren insisted, putting up her own hand and pushing down Miss Peregrine’s. "I truly am sorry for withholding information. I swear it was not with malicious intent...nor any information I thought would be potentially vital to our survival." She insisted. "It is simply painful to me. Miss Tern was a very dear friend that I cared much about, and I prefer not to consider her gruesome death. Likewise, he sister...was an agreeable and loving woman prior to what happened."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“1916...it must’ve been one of the earliest deaths resulting from my brother’s experiments.” Miss Peregrine pondered, only to wince as she realized who she was talking to. “I’m sorry.” She repeated. “I understand it hurts.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“You really don’t.” Miss Wren huffed, and again there was anger cutting through. “I’ve been head of the council for hundreds of years. I’ve </span><em><span>always</span></em><span> been the first one to be briefed. Everyone who </span><em><span>died</span></em><span>, who</span><em><span> disappeared</span></em><span>, who was </span><em><span>hurt</span></em><span>!</span> <span>Every single accident and the death and injury that has been bestowed upon us!” She cried, angry and despairing. "And it's all on me because I am the leader!"</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine pulled back, a little shocked by the outburst, but knew she couldn’t argue. Though she never thought about Miss Wren that way, it was the reality. She was the one who had the ultimate responsibility to try and help when things went wrong. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That is true, and we all owe a lot for it." She said slowly, her arms reaching for the woman once  more. "But it does not mean you're alone. You may be first to know but we all grieve. It's all our sisters." She comforted. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren sighed, letting herself be held once more. She preferred solitude in her life, but it always came at the cost of not having the comfort when she really wanted it. "Thank you, my dear. Thank you."</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Going off canon at this point because it is NOT fair to kill Miss Petral. Nope. hate it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"They have Miss Hawksbill"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What?" Miss Wren looked up from the book she had been reading, looking at Miss Peregrine in shock. "You're joking" She said, throwing away the book and getting up from the chair. She was shocked and could hardly believe what she was being told.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"If only I was! She's really here, Balenciaga!" Miss Peregrine exclaimed, gesturing for her to come. "Come on now, you have to go to her." In her mind, it was obvious - If anyone could care for Miss Hawksbill once she was in the acres, it would be Miss Wren.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren was shocked beyond words, running after Miss Peregrine and still not quite believing that she was actually being honest about it. Miss Hawksbill would never leave the loop, and with it the last scrap of the sister she loved so dearly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they finally make it to Ditch house, Miss Wren can see two women standing out front with some of Miss Peregrine's children. She recognizes both of them, but her eyes are entirely on the older of the two.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude!" She screams, not able to keep quiet as she comes rushing towards her. It’s been so many years since she saw her, but she is still jumping with joy to be reunited.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga!" Miss Hawksbill screams back, coming to meet her sister half-way as they join in a tight embrace. Her good arm was around the other Ymbryne's neck and Miss Wren had her arms wound tightly around her waist, squeezing her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You really came!" Miss Wren exclaimed, still not able to actually believe that what she was holding was flesh and blood. She was really there, and it made her dizzy in her happiness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It was time." Miss Hawksbill replied, tears rising in her eyes as she clung tighter to the older woman. "My dear Balenciaga…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But...what about Gretchen…" Miss Wren hated to say it, to even let that name be spoken or considered, but she needed to know that Miss Hawksbill was aware of what she had done. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If there was one thing Miss Wren couldn't bear, it was to see her heart break all over again. She had found it hard enough to live with herself after she had sent someone else to retrieve Miss Tern’s body, and later facing Miss hawksbill the first time. She couldn’t go through it all again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It was time..." Miss Hawksbill repeated, the next word obviously very painful for her to say. "To let go." She says it at last, and the dam breaks, tears flowing freely down her cheeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh god" Miss Wren couldn't cling on tight enough, her own tears now flooding her cheeks as she shared in the other Ymbryne's grief. “Oh god Maude.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Miss Peregrine observed the tender exchange between the two Ymbrymes, it became obvious to her that it was not only Miss Hawksbill who was letting go. Though she had not been living the nightmare that Miss Hawksbill had for the last hundred years, Miss Wren had not been able to make herself entirely free, either. Not while there was still a fail safe, a way to meet her again, if just as a shadow of her former self.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As long as Miss Hawksbill refused to let go, she kept Miss Wren locked in as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After several moments of watching the hug, it was obvious they would not be ready to let go in a long time and she approached Miss Petrel instead, introducing herself properly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alma LeFay Peregrine. Pleasure to meet you." She said happily, offering her hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gwendolin Pertrel. A pleasure indeed. I've heard so much of you." Miss Petrel replied, shaking her hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Really?" Miss Peregrine asked, surprised. She knew she had a good reputation but did not expect an Ymbryne she never met to know of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh yes" Miss Petrel nodded. "Miss Avocet might deny it, but she has her favorites. You are probably her favorite of the century, if not forever. It is said you are terribly talented." She grinned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh" Miss Peregrine blushed. "Well, thank you. Miss Avocet means a lot to us all." She had to resist calling the woman Esmeralda, as she normally would've. Miss Petrel was obviously not close enough to the older Ymbryne to feel comfortable on a first name basis, and she didn't want to make things awkward.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alma" Miss Wren's voice spoke, and when she turned to look, they had broken apart. Miss Wren was now supporting Miss Hawksbill, who held her injured arm tightly. "She needs a bone mender." She informed her seriously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Of course" Miss Peregrine nodded back just as sharply, before turning to Miss Petrel. "Do you have any injuries you would like to have cared for as well?" She questioned politely.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel nodded, but she offered up no clue as to what needed mending. On the outside, she appeared unharmed, but Miss Peregrine took her word for it that she had some injury.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Then we shall have you see one promptly." She said, starting to move in towards the central parts of the Acres.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they walked, Miss Peregrine had half a mind to ask Miss Wren to go warn the other council members of the Ymbrynes arrival, and to leave her to see their sisters to the bone-mender by herself, but one look over her shoulder proved that it was unlikely Miss Wren would agree to let go, much less Miss Hawksbill herself. One look behind also showed that Miss Petrel was doing worse, starting to sag behind the rest of the group.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Take the lead" Miss Peregrine ordered Miss Wren decidedly, turning back to assist Miss Petrel instead.  "Gwendolin"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel looked surprised, and tried to dodge the arm that Alma offered as it came to support her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I don't require assistance, thank you." She said softly, straitening up and picking up her pace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine debated whether to push it. Her movements were rigid and her breath shallow and labored, showing she was definitely more injured than she appeared. In the end, she decided to let it be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Very well. Then I shall simply accompany you." She said, smiling at the other woman. "You will not find the bone mender without me either way, and your friend is far ahead." She gestured up to Miss Hawksbill.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She's not exactly a friend…" Miss Petrel began but quickly stopped, struggling to catch her breath. "Merely a sister Ymbryne."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Right" Alma nodded, not knowing what else to say. While she may have known a sister of hers out there had the bird Petrel, she had never before met the woman.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instead, she just walked beside her, kept an eye on her and, finally, rushed forward to catch her as she nearly collapsed down on the dirty street, her legs  buckling and a hand wrapping tightly around her apparently ribs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gwendolin! What's wrong?" Despite the protests of her bad leg she bent down beside her, putting an arm around her back to help her up on her feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stubborn, Miss Petrel insisted to keep walking as soon as she was standing up, but it took her a substantial time before she could afford to waste breath on speaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Murnau got me...worse than I thought" She explained, gasping for breath as she finished, clearly struggling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine's blood ran cold as there was a mention of Murnau. "He hurt you?" She asked, helping her to sit as they finally made it to the bone-menders house. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel nodded. "Yes. He gave me good whack when I was in bird form" She groaned, bending forward towards her knees in an attempt to relieve pressure on her chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine nodded. "Can you walk just a little bit longer? The mender is inside." She explained, looking around her to see where Miss Wren and Miss Hawksbill were.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>The other Ymbryne shook her head, but still attempted to stand back up, suddenly stuck clinging to the railing as her legs folded under her. "No" Came the meager, gasping reply at last.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine swallowed. It was worrying, striking fear in her heart. "I will get him." She told her sister, quickly hurrying inside.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Beth!" She saw the young woman walking by, and quickly grabbed on to her arm. "I need a bone mender, now. It's about an Ymbryne."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Another one?" Beth squeaked, eyes wide. "Miss Wren already brought one in a little while ago, a bad arm it was."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"They were involved in the same battle. Miss Petrel is having trouble breathing, she needs help quickly." Miss Peregrine insisted, holding her arm tighter. "She is high priority, you hear?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Yes Ma'am!" Beth exclaimed, jumping to attention before rushing off to find a bone mender who had time to help.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alma? Where's the Miss Petrel?" Miss Wren appeared, looking worried. At first, Miss Peregrine thought it was about Miss Petrel, but her eyes were filled with unshed tears and she looked emotionally destroyed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Likely, it was about something much more complex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Outside. She couldn't walk any longer. They hurt her bad, Balenciaga." She sighed deeply. "She could barely breath."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren nodded, tears spilling over though she quickly tried to hide them as the news broke he resolve. "Oh god"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine bit her lip, feeling for her sister. She was all but ready for a breakdown herself. "How is Maude?" She asked gently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Her arm was bad. And psychologically...I think she's only just coming to insight what she did. She might know it was right, but it will still hurt for a long time." She sighed, dragging a hand over her face. "I'm not sure what to do for her anymore."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Take care of yourself." Miss Peregrine suggested. "She's going to need you for as long as it take her to finally accept what happened, and probably much longer." She said, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. She was not a very tactile person, but when emotional as she was now Miss Wren responded well to it. Even  if she preferred it be Addisson's paw. "You have to be able to see it through. Not to mention that </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span> need you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren swallows, and would have responded, had they not been distracted by a sudden activity by the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Three muscular-looking assistants were helping to carry Miss Petrel inside as the bonemender ran beside them, his hands held against her rib cage as he worked and walked at the same time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine heaven another sigh, deep and painful, and squeezed Miss Wren's arm. "I need to go."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Yeah i don't know where I'm going anymore now haha</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Miss Petrel awoke, startling and getting up </span>
</p><p>
  <span>into sitting position as she realized she was in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room. It frightens her, but before she can try to act she is pulled out of her own mind by a voice. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Finally, you're awake."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel turned her head, sharp and quick in her motions after so many years on the run, only to see Miss Peregrine sitting by the bed and looking at her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alma" She sighed, offering a wobbly smile as she lay back down in the hard hospital bed. With a familiar Ymbryne by her side, she can finally relax. "How are you?" She asked her, concerned about how tired she looked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine chuckled darkly. "I should ask you that. How do you feel?" She questioned, a bit of concern bleeding into her voice as she looked down at her waist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Exhausted. Sore as anything." She sighed, her hand moving down to her ribs to feel her injury. "What happened exactly?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You stopped breathing. The bonemender could barely keep you alive." Miss Peregrine explained softly, wondering silently how she could not remember. "Gave us all a scare, I must say.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Us?" Miss Petrel asked, confused. The room was perfectly empty save the two of them. "Who else?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Miss Wren, miss Avocet, and me." She explained. "They were not happy to see you in bed like this." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel nodded, shifting to find a more comfortable way of resting. Though it was nothing compared to the pain before, her side still ached. "I understand. And I apologize, but I had little choice. Murnau would've killed the children and Miss Hawksbill." She sighed deeply. "I'm expendable, in that way. I protect the light eater." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As soon as she said it, she could feel Miss Peregrine gripping her hand, and she looked at her in surprise. Her face was etched with deep pain, shaking her head desperately.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No. No, noone...noone live to defend anyone against my brother." She said, and her voice trembled with fear and pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel couldn't help but stare. "They're your brothers…" She said in awe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine nodded. "None of your are expendable." She said seriously. "Esmeralda would be horrified if she heard you say that." She complained.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel bit her lip. "Why was Miss Avocet here?" She was not used to the attention, and the realization of who Miss Peregrine actually was made her further uncomfortable. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"To check on you. She wanted to see you, once she knew you made it." Miss Peregrine said sadly, giving Miss Petrel's arm a squeeze. "She care about you. Both of you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry." She said quickly, before shifting the attention again as something Miss Peregrine said caught her attention.  "How's Miss Hawksbill?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Peregrine hesitated at that, her face pinching as she didn't seem to want to answer this new question.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel sighed. Not good, then. "Fine" She said, managing to get into a sitting position. "Obviously she needs you more than me. Go care for her, and I'll just go check on Sophie and Julius. Sebbie and Noor too, god. I'm getting slow." She shook her head, standing up with another struggle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Oh no, I certainly do not need it!" Appearing in the doorway, Miss Hawksbill started at Miss Petrel with wide eyes. "You nearly died. You should be in bed." She suggested, taking hold of her arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel raised a suspicious eyebrow. "You told me to always be ready to die." She said, putting her other hand on the woman's good arm, noticing with some worry that that was now wrapped in bandages as well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill laughed, only slightly deranged. "I'm bad at motivational speeches. You should ask my sister, she is much…" She paused, the happiness fading from her eyes. "Lie down." She ordered, hard and cold </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sudden seriousness in her voice frightens Miss Petrel, and she scrambles back into bed, frightened what she might do if she didn't. Satisfied with this reaction, Miss Hawksbill started to wander off again once her work was done.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Wait!" Alma jumped off her chair, grabbing the ymbryne's least injured arm. "Stay here. You shouldn't be wandering off." She told Miss Hawksbill seriously, and when the woman frowned, she gestured to Miss Petrel. "Watch her while I get the bonemender." She ordered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill nodded, still not having regained her smile. She looked sad, broken. "Fine." She said, her voice flat and uninterested. She picked at the bandages on her previously unharmed arm, but Miss Peregrine did not seem to notice as she left the two of them apart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill watched her go, before turning to look Miss Petrel in the eyes. "So. Where were we?"</span>
</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>OBS! THIS CHAPTER CONTAIN GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS OF SELF-HARM AND BLOODY INJURIES. PLEASE BE CAREFULL!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"What's wrong?" The bonemender looked at the woman's arm, wrapped in thick layers of dirty bandages and put up in a sling. "Can I look at that?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill shook her head. "No please." She whispered, shaking her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude…" Miss Wren squeezed her unharmed arm. "Please...just let her look at it...I know it hurts." She turns her head so their eyes meet, hoping the sadness in hers might inspire something in her sister's blank gaze. "It will all be better then."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Fine" The Ymbrynes gaze is still blank, but she nodded, and she happily began to unwrap it, unhooking it from around her neck and holding it in front of her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Let's see what we got…" Peeling away the last layer, the mender took a deep breath. The skin on the forearm arm was essentially missing, bleeding wounds with burnt edges covering half the arm. Blood and pus was seeping from the open, exposed wounds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren turned her head away, dry heaving a little and attempting not to puke. It looked absolutely gruesome, and she felt ill to know she was walking around with it for how long. It must hurt terribly.  "What happened?" </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"World War One shells. Left my windows open too long one day and burnt myself when the soil came flying in." Miss Hawksbill shrugg, the only sign it bothers her the way she frowns as the arm moves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It was a loop. How could you miss the timing like that?" Miss Wren protested, finally turning to look at her face as the sick feeling passed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I let the loop slip." Another slightly painful shrugg shook her body. "By nine and one-fourth second. Never noticed."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"But you must've noticed burning your skin off" The bonemender protested, slowly taking a water soaked swab and trying putting it down into the wounds to clean it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maybe" Miss Hawksbill responded, staying unconcerned until the swab finally connected with the injured flesh, and she startled, pulling away. "No! It hurts!" She exclaimed, now suddenly unhappy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I need to clean it" The bonemender argued helplessly, not knowing what to do. "Please let me clean it out for you Miss."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren sighed, pulling her closer, letting her arms wrap around her friend and holding her firmly in place as good as she could. "I know it hurts. But I'm here, okay? She just need to clean it and it'll feel better afterwards, I promise." She nodded towards the bonemender, letting her know to continue.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Little by little, the mender managed to clean out the wounds. Miss Hawksbill, surprisingly, stayed silent and docile for the rest of the procedure. She flinched, visibly, as the antiseptic was applied but even that was minor in comparison to her original complaints.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Can I speak to you for a moment Miss?" The bonemender looked at Miss Wren, them gestured for the door outside.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren agreed. "I'll be back in a moment, okay? The bonemender is all done with you now. She just want a word with me." Miss Wren talked to Miss Hawksbill sweetly, letting go of her for the first time since they met again. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill nodd blankly. The other Ymbryne is not even sure if she's being understood, but she follows the bonemender outside and leaves her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once she was alone, Miss Hawksbill started laughing. She wasn't quite sure why she laughed, but it seemed better than the tears she'd otherwise be crying. After all, she wanted to be happy, not sad. They had won. She escaped Murnau and left her loop, which meant that she could finally move on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Only her heart still aches in her chest with every breath she takes and she frowns, suddenly so very unhappy that the laughter died out and tears filled her eyes instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tears of fear and pain that made her shiver, suddenly overrun with another powerful emotion. Guilt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn't new, but it was coming back stronger than ever. Like a tsunami coming onto the shore, she realized that not only had she failed to protect her sister, but now she'd left her as well. She let her sister die properly and moved on like it didn't matter. She couldn't even protect her </span>
  <em>
    <span>Ghost </span>
  </em>
  <span>and if that wasn't a failure that  she had no idea what was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>How was she supposed to live with that terrible knowledge rooted inside her head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deep in the bottom of her heart, Miss Hawksbill didn't even know if she could, or should. So many years, she had avoided ever having to face the truth...but now it was at her doorstep, and she had to face it. After all, she only had herself to blame.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gretchen, I'm so sorry…" She starts picking on the bandages, disgruntled with the itchy feeling the healing cream put in the wounds, but stops just as soon. It will do no good other than Miss Wren getting upset. "What do I do?" She asks, knowing no one will reply.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She needs to deal with it on her own, but she can't. She doesn't know how to, and she feels increasingly like finding a new way of ignoring it, rather than facing it straight on. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At the table, there's a little scalpel left behind. It's bloody, having been used by the mender to make the wound on her arm cleaner, trimming off skin that had to be fried to a crisp at the edges.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Gently, she reaches out for it. She's not sure what to do of it, but she holds it and twirls it between her fingers, only to swear as she nicked one of her fingers. Small beads of blood run down the length of the finger, but she doesn't care much.  The little cut has given her an idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She dragged it along the skin on her good arm, now able to hold it as her arm had been better rewrapped by the mender - though it was still in a sling. The gashes oozed blood, opening up and filling with that red liquid as she worked. Before Miss Wren returns, she has time to do eight cuts, and the scream the other Ymbryne lets out when she sees them sounds distant in Miss Hawksbill's ears as her mind starts to drift.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She is numb and lost, just like she wants to be. In the fuzzy world that surrounds her, there is no guilt or questions about how to move forward with her life. There, it is all already settled. The emotions are gone and she simply exists, floating in a comfortable void.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude!" Miss Wren screams again, and when it reaches Miss Hawksbill's ears, she can tell it's not the first time she has shouted her name. She has just ignored it, lost in her own world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry" She mumbled, not sure what she is apologizing for, and slowly began to make a ninth incision. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Stop it!" A hand wrenches the scalpel away from her as she gets about halfway, blood splattering everywhere, and then she is shaken by the shoulders violently. "Maude stop!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As she is shaken about like a ragdoll the world starts to come back into focus, and she realizes that she is covering the only clothes she has in blood as Miss Wren shakes her shoulders, crying inconsolably.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Calm down Balenciaga" It's the first words she can think to say, and Miss Wren hiccups with surprise, eyes wide as saucers. Maybe they were the wrong words? She was never good at pep talks. It had been Gretchen's area of expertise. "I'm okay."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, you're not. Look at all this blood! You nicked something!" The bonemender surrounds her on her other side, and she jumps - suddenly on high alert as the world is back in focus.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her arm is burning with pain from the cuts and she feels dizzy and afraid, the guilt and grief still no better than before she started.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga…" She begs for her friend, and at the same time as the arms wrap around her a much sharper pain jostles her freshly cut arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm trying to sew together your veins. Please stay still." The bonemender instructs, squeezing it tighter as she puts her next stitch.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill moaned. It made her feel ill, and weak, and she could feel the tears suddenly rushing down her cheeks. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren held her tighter. "I know it's hurt, but you hurt real bad, you know?" She speaks as though she is a child, stroking her hair and trying to comfort. "She has to do what she does to help you  because you decided to do this." Her voice got a firmer edge as she considered this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry" Miss Hawksbill cried, not sure what else to say. The world was going fuzzy in another way. "I...I don't know how to do this. I don't know…" She shakes her head sadly, feeling lost.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren frowned, and swallowed hard. "You are not...weren't trying to…?" She tries to explain, but finds it hard to verbalize as horror and fear grabs her heart.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"For goodness sake" the bonemender grumbled. "Were you trying to die or does it just look like it?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No...no...I wanted quiet" Miss Hawksbill shook her head, but wondered if it really actually was what she wanted. To die, and reunite with her sister. To put a stop to all the pain, once and for all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She blinks, but the spots in front of her eyes won't go away, and finally she just lets slip shut, her mind drifting off once more.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren watches Miss Hawksbill pass out, gently laying her down on the bed as the bonemender finishes closing up the deepest wounds and starts to bandage the arm.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I can't believe she did this" Miss Wren admitted, still in shock at what had happened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mender just sighed. "This is what I tried to warn you about outside. She is clearly mentally unstable...as soon as she was left to her own devices she turned to self-harm, and it took you multiple attempts to even make contact." She said, looking Miss Hawksbill over to make sure there were no other injuries. "Now, will you please reconsider what I asked before?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"The answer is still no." Miss Wren insisted. "Her house i slap-bang in the middle of the invasion on Normandie. It was an accident."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She said her loop slipped...is that even possible?" The other woman asked  coming to wrap an arm around the shaking elder Ymbryne.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Technically, yes, if you start not timing your resets as precisely...but it doesn't affect the activities in your loop...only in the past present when you venture beyond the scope of the loop." She added.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Then I'm right. She did it to herself. She let herself be burnt...more self-harm." Harriet argued. "She needs psychological intervention, and to not be left alone. Ever."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren sighed, leaning against her. It was a bit embarrassing to be relying on someone else, peculiar in particular, but she was so empty. "I...I will think about it." She promised.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The bonemender nodded. "Please do. For her and for you."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"You should sleep." Miss Hawksbill speaks after sitting and staring at Miss Petrel for about an hour, smiling softly at her. "You need to take care of yourself."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel lifted an eyebrow. "You got both your arms in bandages. What did you do?" She rebut, finding her statement very ironic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill stayed quiet for a while, before sighing. "I hurt myself. Because I feel guilty and I don't now what to do about it." Tears start welling up in the old woman's eyes, light trembling at the mere thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Guilty? Over what?" With some discomfort, she manages to reach out, taking her Ymbryne sister's unharmed hand and holding it tight. The confession that she hurt herself is disturbing, and she suddenly understood why Miss Peregrine hadn't wanted her to walk off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Gretchen. My sister. I let her die." Miss Hawksbill confessed, tears spilling over. "I let the Hollow eat her!"</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Just another second…"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She jumps over an abandoned ball of garrote wire and there she is, in the little village her sister loved so much. Even as the war has torn it apart, Miss Hawksbill knows her sister still loves it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Of course, in Miss Tern's loop, it was still whole and untouched.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Miss Hawksbill speaks to the grimbear and passes the frozen normals as they watch the elephants being evacuated. Sometimes, she'd stop and watch with them, but today she is all too excited to slow down.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She'd gotten a note from her sister that morning to say Miss Wren's latest letter vad arrived, and she had sent along some new illustrations of peculiar animals that she wanted her sister to see. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She's gotten a letter from Miss Avocet herself and she is beyond excited to show her sister that in return. She knew she'd like hearing from their former headmistress.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The clock in her pocket strikes twelve, and she slows down her steps a little. She is early, and she knows her sister will be angry because she won't have had time to boil the tea and whip the cream yet. She could hear her sister berating her now, telling her how careless she was about timing for being an Ymbryne.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>They'd laugh, and then she'd say she was always the thick one. That she wasn't as clever and bright as her little sister, or she would've finished school sooner. Those sort of words always seemed to make her sister sad, but they were true, and after a hug it would all be okay.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She's almost at the house, still early despite her efforts, when she hears something moving in the woods. A second later, a flying monkey came shooting out of the bushes in a frenzy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Normally, this wouldn't have bothered her so much, except it's drenched in blood and it's talons sink into her clothes, pulling at her to make her go where it came from. Go towards the house and it's Ymbryne.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Go help her sister.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Miss Hawksbill follows it, running for dear life to try and see what was wrong, and that is when she hears the cries.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Maude! Maude! Heeeelp!"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Gretchen!" She screams right back,  running even faster trying to catch up with the sound of her terrified sister begging for her to help. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She finds Miss Tern on the lawn in front of the house. She's laid on her back, arms splayed out to the sides as an invisible force pushes down on her lungs.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Gretchen!" Miss Hawksbill screams her name, again, and when her sister turns her face towards her there is horror in her eyes.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When she turns her head towards her bog sister, she doesn't even notice the invisible fangs that come for her throat. Something rough and jagged bites down, spreading blood everywhere as Miss Tern tries to scream, choking and coughing until the invisible monster has devoured her eyes as well, and she is dead.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Miss Hawksbill stands still, frozen, and waits. Waits for whatever took her sister to take her too. She doesn't imagine surviving and neither does she try to fight for it - there seems no point, if her sister is gone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>But the monster never comes. Her sister's body slowly starts to grow cold and at last, she comes to her, sinking down on her knees in the cool blood and lifting up what remains into her arms, holding it tight. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Why?" She asks at the noone that is listening. "Why?!" She talks louder, and she sounds angrier because the shock is settling and her grief is mounting up. "Why didn't I protect you!?"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>As if hearing her anger and sadness, a plane comes passing overhead, then another, and if she'd been any smarter she would've known this was the beginning of the end. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The looped hours are soon to be ending, and there is no Ymbryne left to reset it.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When the first shell came flying, Miss Hawksbill let go of her sister's body and ran. The second shell lands right by the dead body and within seconds, she has been blown to pieces. The animals are screaming, the house in on fire and dirt and blood and all sorts of remains fly through the air.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Miss Hawksbill trips suddenly on a fleeing peculiar zebra that has fallen, and a load of piping hot shell-warmed dirt covers her arm as she tumbles down on the other side.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She screamed. It burns, destroying her clothes and her skin and the blood is running, but it's as though she can barely feel it anymore. It's too much and her mind has already checked out.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>The animals, she thinks. She need to help the animals that are probably already dead or burning most of them. It makes no conscious sense, but it's what Miss Hawksbill figures, and so it just happens. She gets up, bleeding arm and all, black spots of pain dancing before her eyes as she tries to turn back to the house.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Gretchen!"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A voice calls out from behind her, and when she turns around, she sees a man she knows. He's an old peculiar person who lives in the area, and he has often come to do work for his local Ymbrynes. He was an old horse breeders son, and Gretchen found him helpful with her animals.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"She's dead" Miss Hawksbill cries, not sure how she could even stand to say those words. "It's all exploded!" She cries even worse, and though she thinks she'll collapse any minute, she tries to keep going back to the house.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>"Wait!" The man puts his hand on her shoulder, pulling her back and holding her close. "You're hurt. You need to stop." He tell her things, but the words make no sense. He doesn't understand that she just can not stop.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Instead, she breaks free, continuing to cry, and continuing to walk on failing legs. "The animals. Her animals. I have to…"</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>It's too much. Her whole body tilts forward, and the only thing that stops her from falling down head first, is the man catching her by her uninjured arm. There's spots dancing in front of her eyes and she can't stop him from swinging her over his shoulder, only vaguely aware of them both leaving as her vision blacked out all together.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel gasped. The story the other woman told was horrifying, and if anything quite clearly explained the way she exacted. What she saw obviously broke her, and to this day she remained that way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You can't possibly blame yourself. God, then mist Ymbrynes would have to think and feel the way you do." She said seriously. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill shook her head. "It was my sister. If it had just eaten me instead...if it had just killed me…"  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How would Balenciaga feel?" Miss Petral interrupted. "She already lost someone she cared for that day. Obviously she cares about you and your survival as well." She said seriously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill sighed. It felt cruel to mention Miss Wren, because she if anything was keeping her broken heart hanging on by a thread.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I cause her trouble. It's difficult."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I know. That's why I told someone about my ribs." Miss Petral nodd, understanding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"You stopped breathing. You needed the help." Miss Hawksbill pointed out, concerned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Petrel smirked. "Exactly." She said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hearing that, Mids Hawksbill laughed. "I like you." She said quietly, smiling at the other Ymbryne.</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm back!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Miss Wren sit in her room, head in her hands, and she ignore Addisson's incessant tries to make contact. She was far too long gone in her own mind to even notice, flashbacks playing in front of her eyes and dragging up the things she tried to forget.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I won't do it, Esmeralda. I can't" She shakes her head, and the suggestion alone makes her sick. Miss Avocet knew how she suffered over the loss of Miss Tern, and yet she wanted her to talk to her sister.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"She needs to get out of there. Miss Hawksbill cannot stay now that Miss Tern is gone, and the area is compromised." Miss Avocet said sternly, not reacting to her emotional cries. "You know her better than most of us. I sent a letter but it went ignored. I doubt I could do any more."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren wants to scream. It's not fair, and she wonders how the older Ymbryne can be so cruel. "Don't do this…" She pleaded for deaf ears.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga, really. Get yourself together... You are the head of the council now! You wanted the job. This is what you have to do." She scoff, sweeping out of the room without looking back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren lands on her couch, crying despite the stern warning to pull herself together. She doesn't understand, She thinks bitterly. Miss Avocet had no idea what it felt to lose the only person that mattered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>To lose a lover. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'm sorry sweetie" Miss Bunting's voice is soft and gentle, her arm going around the younger Ymbrynes shoulders to hold her close. "It will be okay." She insists fruitlessly, and in her heart she wonders how many more times she'll have to do this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Somehow, she had a feeling they were only getting started.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren lifted her hand and, with great reluctance, knocked. "Maude? It's Balenciaga...I sent a letter." </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There's no answer. She stood by the door, nervous as the sound of battle echoed just beyond the woods, too close for her own comfort.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first shell lands in the garden as Maude slam the door behind them, steaming hot dirt flying in an open window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"See what you did! Who's going to clean that up?! Now tell me why you are here, and don't sit on my furniture god damn it!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Wren is almost seated, quickly jumping off the chair again at the angry warming.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Sorry!" She squeaked. "I came to talk to you...about a council matter." She coughed. "My name is Balenciaga Wren. I'm the head of the council."</span>
</p><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill regards her with disdain. "This is not about that tasteless letter Esmeralda sent is it? I found it deeply insulting."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude..it's not safe for you to stay." Miss Wren's face softened, and she approached cautiously, hoping the other woman would not feel threatened. "It wasn't a good place even when Gretchen…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She doesn't get to finish, a hand suddenly on her throat and her back against the wall, a sharp elbow digging into her ribs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Don't. Say. her name!" Miss Hawksbill hissed, pushing her body against Miss Wren's. "You're not worthy of her name!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude...please...she was my friend…" Miss Wren struggles, barely able to breath and in emotional pain from seeing her friend's sister that way. "I loved her…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Dear girl, let her go!" One of the animals on the walls </span>
  <em>
    <span>speak</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Maude listens, throwing her across half the tiny cabin as she is pushed away from the wall instead.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She is in too much shock to notice. The animals have all started whispering amongst each other, and with a heavy heart she realizes she recognises them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"How…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Miss Hawksbill shook her head. "I had help. A peculiar taxidermist. I saved them." She smiles, and it seems deranged. It seems crazy that she thinks mounting their heads and trapping their souls was saving them. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Maude, that's not…"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Go!" She throws open the door as the second shell hits and Miss Wren has to jump out of the way not to be hurt. If she didn't know before, she knows now that she has to leave. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Leave - or risk dying by her friends own hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Balenciaga?!" Addisson cried, more and more worried the more his mistress shook, still not noticing any physical or verbal warnings as she was lost in her memories.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"No, no, no…" She cries, blind to the fact that her memories are not reality and that her pet is trying to save her from her mind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, Addisson gave up. He knows he can not break her from it and someone has to help if he is going to save her from her memories.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"I'll be back!" He promised to death ears and he turned and ran. "I'm going to get you help."</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
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